United Kingdom Hydrographic Office: Key Performance Targets

Lord Drayson: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Don Touhig) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Key Targets have been set for the chief executive of the UK Hydrographic Office for the financial year 2005–06. The targets are designed to drive further improvements to the agency's performance and are as follows.
	Key Target 1: Safety
	While aiming for 100, to achieve a safety index exceeding 95. All radio navigational warnings issued to timescale.
	Key Target 2: Defence
	To achieve an index rating of 95 or more for the defence programme as set out in the tasking authorisation forms.
	Key Target 3: Customer Satisfaction
	Customer and end user satisfaction to exceed a scale rating of 87 by the end of financial year 2005–06.
	Key Target 4: Wider Markets
	To earn revenue of £3.6 million from markets other than SOLAS (UN Safety of Life at Sea) navigational products and services.
	Key Target 5: Finance
	To break even, taking one year with another and to achieve a return on capital employed of 9 per cent in the financial year 2005–06.
	Key Target 6: Efficiency
	Mark-up to be reduced to 210 per cent by end of 2005–06.
	Notes
	Key Target 1: This is a composite target (theoretical maximum 100) measuring the timeliness of the turnaround of safety critical data, the quality of the data handling processes and the safety risk associated with the worldwide chart series.
	Key Target 2: The defence customer uses tasking authorisation forms to define the products and services it requires; this target (theoretical maximum 100) relates to the UKHO's performance against these requirements.
	Key Target 3: The satisfaction of customers and end users is surveyed on a quarterly basis; this target is based on the question of how satisfied, on a scale of 0 to 100, are they with the UKHO as a supplier.

Criminal Defence Service Bill

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Secretary for Constitutional Affairs (Bridget Prentice) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I have today published the Criminal Defence Service Bill: Framework Document which accompanies the Criminal Defence Service Bill, introduced in the House of Lords yesterday. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. It is also available on the Department for Constitutional Affairs website.

Northern Ireland: Fifth Independent Monitoring Commission Report

Lord Rooker: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Peter Hain) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	I have received the fifth report of the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC). This report has been made under Articles 4 and 7 of the international agreement that established the commission and it reports on levels of paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland. I have considered the content of the report and I am today bringing it before Parliament. I have placed copies in the Library of the House.
	The report concludes that paramilitary groups continue to be active in violent and other crime and none has materially wound down its capability to commit violent or other crime. Dissident republican groups are the most committed to continuing terrorism. A downward trend in paramilitary violence has continued. Loyalist groups remain responsible for more violence than republican ones. Exiling continues and there are indications that a considerable proportion of the prisoners released under the terms of the Belfast agreement have re-engaged in paramilitary activities or have become involved in organised crime, or both.
	The report recommends that the review of the licensing regime for the security industry should take account of the need to ensure it bears down to the maximum extent possible on paramilitary involvement, in conjunction with other control regimes and other aspects of law enforcement. A review of security licensing arrangements in Northern Ireland is underway and IMC's views will be fully taken into account as part of those deliberations.
	The IMC report also recommends that I should continue the financial measures against the Progressive Unionist Party in the Northern Ireland Assembly. I shall now consider carefully the commission's recommendations and will make a further Statement in due course.
	I am grateful to the commission for its submission of this report and for its careful analysis.